Address Bar Versus Search Field

Where is my Website?

Use the Address Bar to See Your New Website Online

Often, creating a new website with a design firm is a labor of love. It can take months of collaboration before you see your vision become a functioning website. However, many website users make the mistake of confusing the address bar with the search field when trying to view the new site. With the latest version of Internet Explorer, the address bar has been removed by default causing confusion for a lot of users.

In general, any bar with the spy glass a search bar and not an address bar. A search bar will not display a new or highly secure website. Many secure websites prevent search engine indexing.

Here is why this is a problem. Typing a URL into a search field will yield search results instead of a website, which may or may not contain the requested website:

Whether a site is redesigned or if it’s a complete new site, it can take a little while for a search engine like Google to index. If your site is not indexed, it will not show up in a search. This doesn’t mean that the site doesn’t exist. It just means the search engines don’t see it yet.

To see your new website, type your URL into the Address bar. This will take you straight to your website rather than going through a search engine. In Internet Explorer, you can use the search bar if you precede the web address with either http:// or https://. In the case of Internet Explorer, typing boroughs.org in the address bar with bring up search results. Typing http://boroughs.org will go directly to the website.

If you are having trouble viewing a website, always precede the address with http:// or https:// as required.